Witches Tales #21
"The Invasion" in Witches Tales #21 (1953) delivers a chillingly effective twist on the classic sci-fi panic trope, as a storm-bound couple watches a terrifying broadcast of an alien invasion—only to realize too late it was just a fictional show. Written, drawn, and inked by Bob Powell, the story masterfully blurs reality and illusion in a single, suspenseful narrative. The cover by Lee Elias captures the eerie tension, perfectly framing the moment the line between screen and world dissolves.
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Bill and his wife stay home due to a storm. Their radio is broken and their television set can only get one channel because of the weather. They see a news broadcast depicting an invasion from outer space. Flying saucers land at Coney Island and wipe out the defenders. A Martian spokesman says all inhabitants of Earth will be eliminated. Bill shoots his wife and commits suicide. But the broadcast was just "an original tele-screen drama entitled The Invasion From Mars."
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).